The cage was a lot sturdier than it looked, and it easily supported Dee and Joel’s weight without rocking too violently. Joel looked across at his brother, then out at the upturned faces, just past Dee’s shoulder. He wished for the bright stage lights to block them out ... because they were watching him, scrutinizing him. In his chest he felt a fear gripping him, clinging tight to his lungs so his breath came shorter, faster.

Dee turned when she sensed him beginning to panic. She looked up into his face, placing her hands on his cheeks and smiling placidly at him. When his eyes focused on her she leaned forward and placed a small, sweet kiss on his lips. She unconsciously licked her lips afterward and his eyes dropped to her mouth. She felt his breath, still coming in short bursts, on her face, and her eyes fell to his mouth as well.

His perfect, red-lipped mouth.

Joel leaned in first, gripping the back of her head as they kissed fiercely, the action as full of lips and tongue as it was of teeth. The cage rocked a little when Joel’s shoulder hit the side, though he didn’t notice, as his mouth was on Dee’s neck, his hands exploring her lower back beneath her tank top.

Benji watched them, wide-eyed and open-mouthed. He’d stopped dancing, and his companion looked back at him, then over to what he was watching. She, too, stopped dead and turned to look.

Dee gripped Joel’s pants by the belt-loops and pulled him closer as they grinded against one another, joined at the lips. “Don’t stop,” she whispered, though it was only a formality, as Joel had been lost in the moment, thinking only of enveloping himself in the taste of her, the smells, the feel of her skin. His hands slipped into her pants, grabbing her buttocks and groaning.

“I need you,” he said against her neck. “Now.”

“Okay,” Dee breathed. “Okay, hold on.” She pulled away and looked over at Tiffany, her compadre in the next cage. She gestured “up” with her thumb and Tiffany nodded. They motioned to one another a “one, two, three” with their fingers, and they pressed a button embedded in the side of their cage simultaneously. The red and white lights and sirens went off again and they ascended into the space above the bar.

Benji came over to Joel as soon as the cages were up. “What the hell’s going on, man?” he asked, grinning as hard as he could.

“Can’t talk,” Joel murmured. “Horny.”

“What were you doing out there? You hate it when people ... y’know, watch you.”

Joel looked over at his brother and shrugged. “I didn’t notice.”

“The whole fucking place was riveted.”

Dee tugged on his belt from the back, hiding the fact that she was still stimulating him, rubbing his back in eccentric patterns. “Riveted?” Joel asked. “Huh. Maybe I should start doing this on stage. We’d get more revenue.”

Benji laughed his snorting, goofy laugh. “We’d get fucking arrested.”

“Same-same,” Joel replied, letting Dee take his hand and start to lead him away. “I’ll be back ... um, I think.”

The trip out of the bar was a blur. At the top of the stairs they were already kissing, groping, Dee’s hands down the front of his pants. Joel fell against the banister as Dee leaned her full weight against him to kiss his mouth. They started down the steps, oblivious to anyone but each other, and one of the employees climbing the stairs looked up and checked Joel firmly in the shoulder. Dee stumbled down a few steps, Paul, incidentally standing on the landing, catching her before she fell any further.

Joel threw the guy against the wall and had a few choice words.

“Good catch,” Dee breathed, smiling up at Paul.

Paul grinned back, his cheeks reddening as she gazed at him with glazed eyes. “Any time, baby. I got good hands.”

Joel came down the steps and hooked his arm around Dee’s waist, his hand catching between Dee and Paul’s bellies, and tugged her with him as he started for the nearest exit. Dee pressed a hand lightly to Paul’s cheek and mouthed thanks before she turned back to Joel, nuzzling his neck.

In dark corners, Dee and Joel stopped a moment to grope, to keep the fires stoked while they found the best place to take their clothes off. They didn’t notice the bartender shaking his head when he looked at them. They didn’t see the group of locals stop and turn when they opted not to go through the emergency exit. They couldn’t feel the stares from a dozen points, the derision and even anger.

Bursting out into the chilly night, Joel fished in his pocket to find his set of keys to the van. He popped the back doors open with one hand, and popped Dee’s bra open with the other.

Benji joined up with his bandmates. “Jesus, that Dee chick knows everybody!”

“You’re telling me,” Paul said laughing. “I just mentioned her coming out of the bathroom and ended up in a threesome, got a new watch, and a free whiskey sour.”

“I got head,” Billy laughed.

“Shit, all I got was a bottle of Grey Goose,” Felix said.

“I got herpes,” Benji laughed.

“You guys see Joel up in the cage?” Paul asked.

“Cage?” Felix asked.

“Joel was in the go-go cage.”

“No shit.”

“Joel left out with our girl. I bet you cash he ditches us,” Benji said.

“What? Joel wouldn’t ditch us, Benji,” Billy replied.

“I’ll put ten bucks on it,” Paul said. “I’d ditch us if I were him.”

“But you’re a dick,” Billy laughed.

“Ten on it,” Felix said, pulling the bill out of his wallet.

“We should go find them, though,” Paul said. “I didn’t like the looks people were giving them on the way out.”

“Ditto,” Billy said. “Dee knows everybody, yeah. And maybe they’re a little pissed they’re not getting her attention.”

“What, does she crap gold bullion or something?” Benji asked. “I don’t see what the big deal is.”

Billy spoke up when Paul’s face registered frustration. “Benj, you remember Stacy McKeane?”

Benji smiled. “Aww, yeah, of course. She was the dream back in high school.”

“But she never dated anyone.”

“Yeah, her dad wouldn’t let her.”

“But she was always super nice and funny.”

“Right.”

“So, now imagine she walked into a party with, say, Tommy Lee on her arm. What would you think?”

Benji’s smile faded. “I’d wanna kick his ass cuz all he’d do is fuck her over, and I could treat her way better.”

“Exactly!” Paul said.

Benji cocked his head. “You’re likening Joel to Tommy Lee?” He laughed. “That is a gross over-statement.”

“Regardless, let’s give them another fifteen minutes, then call Joel’s cell,” Paul said.

“Gross overstatement,” Benji laughed again.

They tried their best to stay quiet, but it was nearly impossible. Dee pressed her palms against the wall of the van and arched her back as Joel pressed into her. Joel held her wrists there, over her head, as he leaned over her, kissed her neck. God, she felt so good. She murmured into Joel’s skin, something about beauty, something about need. Joel covered her mouth with his and breathed in the last of her words, before she uttered nothing but quivering gasps as Joel clutched her tightly.

Her skin was slick with sweat and it shined in the moonlight. Their body heat had made the van moist and humid, casting the chill off so it was comfortable to linger in the nude. And he savored this luxury, propping himself on his elbow and tracing patterns in the perspiration on her belly.

“When do you have to go?” Dee asked, pulling a blanket up over them both.

“We have an acoustic thing tomorrow afternoon, then we hop a plane in the morning.” Joel didn’t like talking about this. He pulled her closer beneath the blanket.

Dee looked down and shook her head. “That’s really soon.” She pressed her lips lightly to his shoulder, licked the salt from his skin.

“We should make the most of it.”

Dee grinned. “I already called in sick.”

Joel laughed and grabbed her into a tight hug, rolling over on top of her. “I love a girl that thinks ahead!” Dee reached up and smoothed his hair back, then framed his face with her hands, just watching him glow in the low light. After a few moments of silence, in which they simply studied one another’s faces, Joel leaned down and kissed her softly.

Somewhere beneath them, Joel’s cell phone vibrated. “Ooh,” Dee chuckled.

“Sorry to spoil the moment.” He reached beneath Dee, his search leisurely, enjoying the curve of her spine, the roundness of her buttocks. He retrieved his phone and pressed it to his ear. “What’s up?”

“Just a heads-up,” it was Paul. “There’s some kids who might not be stoked you’re here, so just keep your eyes open.”

“Okay, we will.”

“And if you ditch us, I get thirty bucks.”

Joel grinned. “Ah, nice.”

“See you tomorrow?”

Joel looked over at Dee. She was idly tracing her foot along the back of his leg as she gazed out the window. “Yeah.”

He closed his phone. “Alright, beautiful. I’m all yours tonight.”

They dressed quickly and got out of the van, looking around at the damp night. The street shimmered like a rain had fallen while they were in the bar, but Dee assured Joel it was just the nature of the area. The night brought in dampness and fog, the streets, buildings, windows and sidewalks covered with it by morning. “We can walk to my place.”

They wandered through the abandoned late-night streets, and Dee revealed to him that this was her favorite time of day … or night. Usually she was on her way home from work around this time, and she liked having the solitude in which to collect her thoughts.

Cutting through the alleyway that ended at the firefly pond, they were confronted by a group of five guys from the bar. Dee pursed her lips and put her hands on her hips. “What do you guys want?” Her tone was that of annoyance.

“Dee, why don’t you go home?” Joel suggested quietly. “I’ll handle them.”

“No,” she said loudly. “No, you’re not going to handle them. No one’s gonna handle anyone, all right? This is fucking stupid.”

“It’s a guy thing,” one of the men from the bar said. “We just need to discuss a few things.”

“So start talking, Frankie,” Dee said.

“You always let chicks fight for you?” another of the guys asked Joel.

“If you really knew her, you wouldn’t ask that,” Joel replied.

“This is your last chance to run on home, missy,” Frankie said.

“Don’t call me missy.”

The group advanced, not as one unit, but in an unorganized fashion, which made them easier to pick off one by one. Joel stood motionless until the first charged him, and he buried his fist in his gut before he got a swing in. The momentum with which the guy had plunged in was what made him sink like a stone when Joel’s fist jostled his insides. Joel turned to face two more. Dee kicked Frankie in the crotch, then kneed him in the head when it bowed down in response to the check in the genitalia. She stooped and pulled off one of her heavy Creepers and beat the shit out of the last guy that came their direction. He stumbled and fell into a group of trashcans and didn’t rise again. One of the men that was working on Joel turned and looked her direction, wiping a smear of blood from the corner of his mouth. He turned and walked toward her, catching her off guard because she was already backed so tightly against the wall. He braced his arms against the wall on either side of her, pulling his body in close enough so she couldn’t get away.

“How bout trying out a real man?” he asked, grinding his hips against her so she could feel the erection prod her stomach. “I could show you a good time,” he breathed. His breath was hot with whiskey and Dee turned her head away from him, looking over at Joel as he began to gain the upper hand in the tousle on the ground. She was held too tightly to kick or punch him with any real force.

One of the man's hands fell to fondle her breast, edging beneath the tank top.

“Eww, God,” she whispered.

Joel rolled his opponent over and start punching him rapidly in the face. He wasn’t going to stop until the guy stopped struggling, stopped even responding.

Dee pushed for a little space to maneuver. The man lowered his head and kissed her chest, licked her skin and she gagged a little. When he lifted his head up and tried to focus bleary eyes on her mouth, Dee took the opportunity to surge up, pushing her bottom against the wall, and head-butt him in the face. She felt something give when she hit him, but she wasn’t sure what. She didn’t stick around to find out either. She touched her head and discovered blood there, so she assumed she’d broken either some teeth or his nose. Soccer skills came in handy every now and then.

The man crumpled onto the ground, holding his face and cursing. Dee ran over to Joel and pulled him up off the pavement, even as he tried to get in a couple more swings. “C’mon, Joel,” she said sternly. And like the sound of her voice had instantly killed the bloodlust in him, he rose by her side and the two of them left the alleyway and high-tailed it to her apartment.

Dee closed the door and dead-bolted it, put the chain on.

“Is your town always so welcoming?” Joel asked, shaking out his hands. They hurt pretty bad right now, the knuckles split but not bleeding profusely.

“Oh, like Waldorf’s any better,” she replied as she edged the curtain open to peek out toward the alley. She could see nothing but darkness there.

“I live in LA now.” Joel fished some ice out of the freezer and put it into two bowls.

“You’re not helping your case, there, buddy,” Dee laughed. She closed the curtain again and walked into the kitchen with him just as he plunged his fists into the bowls of ice. He sucked in an audible breath as they went in, then sighed lightly as he acclimated.

“Oh, God, yeah,” he sighed, closing his eyes and tilting his face up to the ceiling.

“My poor baby,” she murmured as she closed her arms around his waist and lay her head against his arm. He looked down at her and noticed the blood on his jacket.

“Oh, shit. What happened to you?” He held her face with ice-cold hands, brushing away the tiny river of blood that streamed down her forehead. It instantly refilled and flowed again. “You’re bleeding; what’d you do?”

Dee touched her head and felt small indentions in the skin. Teeth marks. “I head-butted one of the guys, and I guess I caught his teeth.”

“You head-butted someone?” Joel ran warm water on a paper towel and pressed it to the wound. He smiled softly at her. “Who the hell does that?”

“Jackie Chan.”

“You’re no Jackie Chan. What would possess you to head-butt him?”

She shrugged. “I didn’t have any other choice.”

“Hold this tight,” he said, placing her hand where his had been. “Can you see how many fingers I have here?”

“I don’t have a concussion, Joel. I hit him with the perfect part of my head. It’s all soccer skills.”

“How many fingers?” he insisted, holding up two.

“Seventeen,” Dee replied and walked into the bedroom.

“C’mon, Dee, I’m not fucking around,” he said as he followed her.

“Can we just drop it, Joel?” She plopped onto the bed, sprawling out in the middle of it and closing her eyes. “I’m really tired.”

“No,” he said, scooping her up to sitting. “If you have a concussion you have to stay awake or you’ll lapse into a coma.”

Dee stared silently into his eyes fro a few moments. “You better be kidding me.”

“No, I’m not.”

She blinked at him. He was honestly concerned. Her slight smile faltered and a look very close to sadness darkened her features. Joel cocked his head as he observed it, but couldn’t decode what internal change corresponded with it. “Oh, Joel, that’s not the first or last fight I’m gonna be in. You can’t get all emo on me over it.” She turned and crawled up to the pillows and lay down.

“Dee, don’t tell me shit like that. I’m gonna worry about you now.” She murmured something into the pillow, pulling it closer over her head. “What?”

She lifted the edge of the pillow slightly, still obscuring her face but making her words come out a little clearer. “I said, lot a good worrying will do when you’re three thousand miles away.”

Joel stared, open mouthed at her for a moment, his insides feeling like they had deflated … no, in fact that they had gone down in flames like the Hindenburg. “That’s not fair,” he said softly. “This … this life doesn’t leave much space for relationships. I mean, I … all I want is to have someone with me all the time but it’s just not in the cards for me right now.”

“Dude, fuck your cards!” Dee sat up suddenly and threw her pillow at him. “Aww, shit,” she pressed a hand to her forehead when a streak of pain pulsed behind her eye.

Joel scooted up the bed and touched her gently. “Are you okay?”

Dee pulled away from his touch and peeled the makeshift bandage from her forehead, staring down at the clots stuck to the surface. “Christ. This is fucking awesome.” She tossed the bandage at a nearby trashcan and missed by a little. “I’m so glad I gave up my celibacy kick for you, because this is so fun,” she said sharply.

Joel kneaded his fists into his thighs, trying to relieve some of the tension in his hands. Also, trying to redirect the ache inside his chest to somewhere a bit more superficial. “Why, um,” he cleared his throat, though he still spoke softly. “Why don’t you come with us?” Joel suggested.

Dee chortled. “Your bandmates would love that.”

“They would!”

“Well that’s just not in my cards, Joel. I got school, remember? I got plans, I got a job. I can’t just drop all of it for you.”

“I – I…” Joel stammered, trying to get a word in.

“It is highly motherfucking presumptuous of you to expect me to do that, too,” she continued, rising up onto her knees. Her eyes flashed as she spoke, and the angrier she got, the more of a street accent came out in her voice. “I’m not one of your teenage fans who would do anything on God’s earth for you.”

Joel frowned up at her. “You wouldn’t?”

“No, Joel! This isn’t a fairy tale. I can’t give you my whole damn life.”

“I’d give you mine.”

Dee rolled her eyes. Perfect. She’d picked up an idealist. “Yeah, Joel? Stay here then. Quit the band and stay here.” Joel blinked up at her for a few moments, then he fished in his pocket to find his cell phone. He dialed Steve, GC’s manager. “What’re you doing?”

“Calling my manager.”

Dee leaned down and plucked the phone from his hands and closed it, ending the call. “Are you an idiot? What’s wrong with you?”

“I don’t understand why you’re so angry,” he said, grabbing her wrist and not letting go when she tried to pull away. “Why’re you acting like this?”

“Because you’re leaving, Joel, and it’d only be like this over and over again. You’ll leave and I’ll resent you, then it’ll be all butterflies and lilies when you come back again. But then it’ll be right back to this place.”

“We can work through it-”

“And you’re so goddamn zen about all of it.” She’d started crying. “It’s infuriating.”

“I’m old hat at it, Dee,” he chuckled sadly, pulling her down onto his lap. “I’ve been doing this for over a decade now.” He kissed her and she kissed back, though reluctantly.

Dee touched his face, holding her hands against his cheeks, rubbing her fingertips slightly against his stubble. She gazed into his eyes, loving how it felt to be the only thing he saw. Her chin quivered; she still couldn’t contain tears. “This just really isn’t going to work out,” she whispered. She hugged him close, fiercely, wishing she could just fuse with him, never having to see him leave. “I had no idea this would be so hard.”

“It doesn’t have to be,” Joel said, his voice beginning to shake with emotion.

“You’re right, Joel. It doesn’t have to be this hard.” She leaned back and looked up at him again, sliding off his lap to sit next to him. “If you go tonight, and don’t look back, I might be able to keep it together.”

Joel looked over at her, his shoulders sagging, eyes glassy but not tearing. “You want me to go,” he said as a statement instead of a question.

“No,” Dee whispered. “Not want. But you should.”

Joel leaned over and embraced her tightly, resting his chin against her shoulder and feeling the tears surge in his chest. This was not what Dee needed right now. She didn’t need to see him cry. “I’ll stay till you fall asleep,” he murmured, and felt her nod in agreement.

Joel watched her undress and pull on a nightgown, her footsteps a bit less sure than they usually were. Usually this was almost like watching a ballet, all beauty, flourishes and grace. But now, her moves were halting, unsure. She sat for a moment on her the side of the bed, her back to Joel as he reclined. He reached out and touched her skin, rubbing fingers over her tattoos. Dee looked back over her shoulder and regarded him with sad eyes. She slid into bed and laid her head on the pillows as Joel wrapped her up in his embrace. Dee kissed his hands and closed her eyes, hoping that when she woke up tomorrow it would no longer feel like a vise was twisting tighter and tighter on her chest, compressing her lungs so her breathing came only in shaky rattles only she could hear. She held tightly to Joel’s hands as she drifted toward sleep, her grip slipping only when she fell into deep slumber.

Joel pulled away from her gently. He checked her over, making sure she was breathing comfortably, her eyes wandering beneath her lids to indicate she was only sleeping and dreaming, not unconscious. He went into the kitchen and cut on the light to write a note. He left it on her dresser, next to the coffee plant she spritzed and dusted every morning. Then he placed a soft kiss on her cheek before he left Dee’s apartment for the last time.

And as fate would have it, the breezy night caught under the thin paper of Joel’s love-inspired note, and lifted it, swirling, through her room, catching briefly on the bedpost. The only word visible was “please” as it flapped there before freeing itself. The updraft lifted the note, light as tissue paper, and took Joel’s sentiment, his words, his feelings and emotion and carried them out through the bedroom window, into the black night. It landed in the firefly pond and quickly dissolved to little more than a film on the water’s surface.